The Cost of Raise Dead

[green slime]

Sure they do.

Come up with 5k in Diamond Dust.

Anywhere at any time.

Yeah, right.

Raise Dead
...
Material Component: Diamonds worth a total of least 5,000 gp.

No "dust" there.

Players can and do plan ahead. Five 9th characters that can't plan ahead and put aside a little cash each? Investing in a diamond or two? Well then they are up shitcreek without a paddle. Every single player I know does that, so they aren't caught without costly spell components.

Doesn't detract from the statement, that raising dead is still too easy, IMO. If you can't get hold of 5,000 gp in diamonds in a metropolis ... (note it isn't a weight of diamonds, nor a single diamond, just a total value)

Do you restrict access to stoneskin on the same basis?

I guess the sagas of old are just so uninspiring; so much for epic quests to Hades. I suppose the gods of the Dead gave up their duty of guarding/hoarding the dead, and are now cornering the diamond market.

 

[green slime]

Sure they do.

Come up with 5k in Diamond Dust.

Anywhere at any time.

Yeah, right.

What is the point of leaping into a "House Rules" thread, (a forum specifically set up for people who want to tweak things and alter them to their taste) where people who feel that a certain subject needs tweaking, and saying "No, I don't agree, Nothing wrong with the rules here, you are all wrong, ain't nothing wrong."

Especially when your statements are to the effect that you restrict access to a commodity, which by RAW, exists readily in any major metropolis? In other words, you are yourself introducing a HR.

Why? Trolling? Toothache? Lack of Sleep?

 

[Stalker0]

I like the idea of the god that raised you putting a geas on you...turns it into a plot device, very nice.

 

[genshou]

In my campaigns, the trouble isn't finding someone to cast the spell for you or finding the material component (anyone with enough gp can locate the stuff), but rather with waiting in line, because that Cleric has a lot of spells to cast and not many spells per day!

I always use Constitution drain with anything but true resurrection, in addition to a negative level that stays with the character for one week and never results in permanent level loss. The loss to Constitution can be made up by my alternate ability advancement rules, so as long as the character continues gaining levels they don't suffer any permanent harm. At high levels, though, being resurrected left and right would be a serious problem for your Con score unless you're getting true resurrected...

I don't see any need to "fix" raising the dead in the standard rules. In fact, I use 3.0 and I think the costs are fine and everything. PCs are nothing like the rest of the world, and I always keep in mind how the workings of magic affect the world as a whole and not just the PCs. If they can get resurrected easily, who cares? If my players would have more fun being able to bring their character back from the dead, I'll let them. It is fantasy after all.

 

[airwalkrr]

I like the idea of the god that raised you putting a geas on you...turns it into a plot device, very nice.

I agree. That sounds like a very nifty idea. Have you used it before?

 

[Imban]

I'd avoid putting real restrictions on True Ressurection, except maybe by not making it available outside of someone in the party learning to cast it. This is for two reasons - one, at that level, a Wizard can cast Wish to have someone raised from the dead without any hassle with needing to go on a God-given quest, and two, at that level, AoE death effects are a regular feature of combat, and so your heroes are going to need to be coming back from death without too much of a hassle given the incredibly high chances that one or two of them will end up dead occasionally.

As far as the Geas on Ressurection goes for Good characters, this could go too far if the quests asked for by the gods were unreasonably problematic - longer than can fairly be resolved in a session or two at most. For evil characters, I don't quite like the wording on it - perhaps those who were making use of the deceased, rather than just those owed a debt, would also be eligible? This would make it a lot more useful in evil parties, where you might be considered a useful pawn, for example, but not really owe anyone a debt.

 

[el-remmen]

I agree. That sounds like a very nifty idea. Have you used it before?

I have with a big whammie. . . My "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign had a huge set of plot arcs based on the promises they had to made when using this item to raise a companion.

 

[el-remmen]

I'd avoid putting real restrictions on True Ressurection, except maybe by not making it available outside of someone in the party learning to cast it. This is for two reasons - one, at that level, a Wizard can cast Wish to have someone raised from the dead without any hassle with needing to go on a God-given quest, and two, at that level, AoE death effects are a regular feature of combat, and so your heroes are going to need to be coming back from death without too much of a hassle given the incredibly high chances that one or two of them will end up dead occasionally.

I guess this depends on your style of game. It was not a problem with mine - though over the course of a five year campaign only two PCs were every brough back.

As far as the Geas on Ressurection goes for Good characters, this could go too far if the quests asked for by the gods were unreasonably problematic - longer than can fairly be resolved in a session or two at most. For evil characters, I don't quite like the wording on it - perhaps those who were making use of the deceased, rather than just those owed a debt, would also be eligible? This would make it a lot more useful in evil parties, where you might be considered a useful pawn, for example, but not really owe anyone a debt.

Well, the fact that I do not allow evil PCs alleviates that problem - and in terms of how long the geas takes - well, that depends on the campaign plot and what they have to do.

Typically, if someone takes on a great debt to raise you a heroic character will join in helping that person fulfill their quest.

As for evil people being owed a debt - it just reinforeces the dangers of getting into debt to some evil overlord.

 

[Rhun]

I generally house rule that characters brought back to life permanently lose 1 point of constitution. Additionally, I house rule that the material component must be something sacred to the god granting the spell (like 5000 gp in masterwork weapons and armor for a god of war).

 

[lukelightning]

Lots of people don't understand the purpose of raise dead and other "back to life" spells. They are simply tools you can use when a PC dies to bring the character back into the game and get on with the campaign. It's a lot simpler to just bring back a character, rather than forcing a player to make up a new character, which could be exactly the same as the previous one (or even more optimized/min maxed).

Losing a level is already a sacrifice, don't screw with the character's ability scores as well.

Raising a dead character also has the added bonus of avoiding the problem of figuring out what to do with the deceased's wealth and magic items; if you divvie them up to the rest of the party, then the new character brings in a bunch of new stuff, that could be problematic. But if the deceased is a fighter and the new person a wizard, you can't just give the wizard all the fighter stuff.